New Mexico, NASA Plan Co-investment

Last week, an advisory committee for the New Mexico State Investment Council recommended investing in t/Space, a private company bidding on a contract to build a new, commercially run space transport system that will assume some of the Space Shuttle’s duties. (Illustrated in NASA’s diagram above.) If t/Space wins the contract, the Virgina-based firm intends to build its crew exploration vehicle at New Mexico’s spaceport.
Currently, NASA is conducting a competitive bid process, and nearly 100 private companies have expressed interest. The New Mexico SIC’s investment is contingent on t/Space winning the contract. Nevertheless, many companies in the running are interested in building and testing their spacecraft in New Mexico.